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Wulapalooza promises to unite campus community April 19

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Wulapalooza is my favorite day of the year. It makes up for every stressful midterm, every sleep-starved morning, and every essay turned in before its time.

It’s the day when student body differences are blurred. No longer are we a jumble of sports teams, Greek communities, majors, minors, dorm-dwellers and club members: we are Willamette, dancing the day away in a sea of body paint and bubbles, muddying our feet to the beats of the Great Northwest.

Wulapalooza is among the few days of the year that the Salem and Willamette communities collide. Yes, Willamette does a marvelous amount of outreach with local organizations, but rarely do we assemble, students and locals, to celebrate in the sun.

The 16th annual Wulapalooza festival is on April 19 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Brown Field and from 10:15 p.m. to midnight inside Cat Cavern. Starting at 5:30 p.m., Wulapalooza will host five professional bands playing everything from rock to hip hop to New Orleans Bounce.

But why should you come to Wulapalooza? Here are a few reasons:

There’s incredible talent among the Willamette student body.

Many students crawl out of the woodwork, guitar in hand, to croon you into disbelief. Others have already established their musical presence. Members of the band [Deadly] Infunktion, who will close out this year’s student set on Brown Field, recently traveled to Nepal to play at the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory. Derek Sup ’14, fronting student band HD Laundry, has just released a critically acclaimedalbum with another group, Family Photo.

It’s free for you and benefits Salem.

Instead of buying tickets, you can purchase food from Fusion or donate to local charities. In the past, Wulapalooza has collected donations for Garten, Salem Friends of Felines and other local causes.

Willamette’s artists and clubs make for great entertainment.

You can peruse and purchase the work of student and local artists along the banks of the Mill Stream while you sip a latte from the Bistro en route to the club booths surrounding Brown Field. This year’s activities include a buffalo wing contest, a prize wheel, interactive artwork, photo booths and more. Zena Farm has created a trash sculpture for your edification and entertainment. Did I mention we have a parachute?

The professional bands will rock your proverbial socks off.

The nighttime lineup begins with Portland’s indie rock group Radiation City, followed by Seattle’s hip hop crew The Physics and rock ‘n’ roll band Chastity Belt. Bounce artist Katey Red from New Orleans and New York City’s cave music trio Moon Hooch will close out the Brown Field stage with a huge dance party. And this year, the fun continues: for the first time ever, Wulapalooza and ASWU Sound will host an electronic music aftershow in Cat Cavern with Zebbler Encanti Experience beginning at 10:15 p.m.